Category: cribbage

The Ups and Downs of Cribbage Solitaire

I made this YouTube video of a full six deal game of cribbage solitaire—and missed a 3-card run which would have won the game!

What the heck, I probably made other mistakes too that others will notice.

The rules:

Cribbage solitaire has six hands and six cribs and you peg your six hands.

Start by dealing two cards down to form part of your hand, then one down to form part of the crib. Deal two more to your hand, one more to the crib, and finally two more to your hand (which now has six cards and the crib has two.

Discard two of the six cards to form a four-card crib. Then flip the top card of the deck for the starter card.

Then peg your hand for maximum count, which would not always be the way you’d peg in a game with an opponent. Colbert’s example paraphrased: if you hold 5-10-10-jack. Play the 5 first, then a 10 for “15-2,” then the other 10 for “25, a pair for two and a go.” The remaining jack also scores a “go” for one point. Your peg is six points total.

After scoring the peg, count your hand, then your crib.

Then start the second deal by using the first-hand starter card, which becomes one of the first six cards for your hand. Again, deal the crib two cards. Repeat this process until you complete the game with the sixth deal (the deck will have four cards after six deals). (Colvert, 2015)

Reference

Colvert, D. (2015). Play Winning Cribbage 5th ed. Missoula, Montana: Starr Studios.

Won Cribbage Solitaire on First Game Today!

I won cribbage solitaire in six deals (meaning I got to 121) on my first try today. Lucky break. I’m beginning to think I should just film these because, at least lately, I seem to be on a winning streak. My first and most recent win was 3 days ago and I think I’ve played once or twice since then.

Rules summarized and demo video below:

Cribbage solitaire has six hands and six cribs and you peg your six hands.

Start by dealing two cards down to form part of your hand, then one down to form part of the crib. Deal two more to your hand, one more to the crib, and finally two more to your hand (which now has six cards and the crib has two.

Discard two of the six cards to form a four-card crib. Then flip the top card of the deck for the starter card.

Then peg your hand for maximum count, which would not always be the way you’d peg in a game with an opponent. Colbert’s example paraphrased: if you hold 5-10-10-jack. Play the 5 first, then a 10 for “15-2,” then the other 10 for “25, a pair for two and a go.” The remaining jack also scores a “go” for one point. Your peg is six points total.

After scoring the peg, count your hand, then your crib.

Then start the second deal by using the first-hand starter card, which becomes one of the first six cards for your hand. Again, deal the crib two cards. Repeat this process until you complete the game with the sixth deal (the deck will have four cards after six deals). (Colvert, 2015)

Reference

Colvert, D. (2015). Play Winning Cribbage 5th ed. Missoula, Montana: Starr Studios.

A Little Iowa Hawkeye Cribbage History

Sena played a couple of games of cribbage solitaire today and came within 8 points of making 121! And so that makes us both fans of this variation on cribbage.

There was a little project I set for myself given that DeLynn Colvert’s book, “Play Winning Cribbage” has a section called Cribbage World Publication, which is a monthly publication you can find on the American Cribbage Congress (ACC) website. Colvert was an editor of Cribbage World and included in his book copies of events and ads of interests to ACC members. Many items are odd and comical.

One of the interesting tidbits is an announcement that is historically important for cribbage in Iowa. However, none of the items including this one are dated. So, I had to hunt it down in the archives on the ACC website. The title is “Two 29’s Within 5 Minutes!” It refers to an event called the Hawkey Classic, which used to be the name for the annual cribbage tournament held in Des Moines, Iowa. Two 29 hands were scored within 5 minutes of each other during this tournament. This is remarkable because the odds of dealt a 29 hand are 1 in 216,580!

I had to dig through many pages of Cribbage World and Artificial Intelligence (AI) was no help at all (not that I asked it because AI intrudes itself on all my searches whether I want it’s help or not). In fact, it denied the existence of the Hawkeye Classic cribbage tournament.

Anyway, I had to make a guess about what issue of Cribbage World that announcement was published. I guessed that it was in the 1990s (for no particular reason) and I found it on page 3 in the June 1990 issue after striking out in the 1991-1993 issues (although I found one item related to cribbage solitaire which involved playing five hands instead of six).

It turns out that there’s been an annual cribbage tournament for over 40 years in Iowa and that tradition did start in Des Moines. It was called the Hawkeye Classic and was ACC sanctioned. However, my guess is that it gradually became absorbed into the Iowa State Fair schedule of events. It’s usually held on the last day of the fair. This year, I found out there were 252 entrants, which I think is probably not unusual.

Another interesting note about this issue of Cribbage World I noticed is that there isn’t a Hawkeye Classic cribbage tournament announcement listed in The Tournament Trail section. However, it does list the Grand National (National Awards Banquet) on September 20, 21, 23 in 1990 at the Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa. But I did find an announcement about the Hawkeye Classic in one of the earlier issues from 1991-1993.

Iowa Hawkeye cribbage is alive and well!

First Cribbage Solitaire Win Today!

I got lucky and won my first game of cribbage solitaire today! I got to 121 in six deals. I probably should have videotaped the game, but since you never know if you’re going to win, you’d probably waste a lot of time filming. Sena watched me do it and I wonder when she’s going to give it a try. What you see in the picture are the 4 crib cards spaced out, the deck with starter card, the hand cards face up in a pile on the right, and the 5 other deals in piles face down on the left.

According to DeLynn Colvert in his book “Play Winning Cribbage” 5th Edition, published in 2015 in the appendix, “This game is simple, fast, and difficult to win…but it can be done.” You have to average 20 points per deal to win the 121-point game. See my YouTube video below for a quick demo.

Rules summarized:

Cribbage solitaire has six hands and six cribs and you peg your six hands.

Start by dealing two cards down to form part of your hand, then one down to form part of the crib. Deal two more to your hand, one more to the crib, and finally two more to your hand (which now has six cards and the crib has two.

Discard two of the six cards to form a four-card crib. Then flip the top card of the deck for the starter card.

Then peg your hand for maximum count, which would not always be the way you’d peg in a game with an opponent. Colbert’s example paraphrased: if you hold 5-10-10-jack. Play the 5 first, then a 10 for “15-2,” then the other 10 for “25, a pair for two and a go.” The remaining jack also scores a “go” for one point. Your peg is six points total.

After scoring the peg, count your hand, then your crib.

Then start the second deal by using the first-hand starter card, which becomes one of the first six cards for your hand. Again, deal the crib two cards. Repeat this process until you complete the game with the sixth deal (the deck will have four cards after six deals). (Colvert, 2015).

Reference

Colvert, D. (2015). Play Winning Cribbage 5th ed. Missoula, Montana: Starr Studios.

Cribbage Solitaire Inventor Lost in the Mists of Time?

I just played 3 games of cribbage solitaire that I posted about in the last couple of days. I got to 4th street in 2 of them and got to 115 in one. I think getting to 121 is at least possible. You have 6 deals to get there and you need over 20 points per deal to make it. Each game takes me about 10 minutes.

I haven’t seen any rules for this cribbage solitaire variation about looking at your cards or not as you deal them. I deal the hand cards face down as well as the first two crib cards face down. I look at the six cards in my hand from which I select the other two cards to throw to the crib. I only look at all four crib cards when I’m ready to count the crib points. I don’t know if anybody else does it differently. See my YouTube video demo for how I interpret the game play.

The only rules I’ve seen for this cribbage solitaire version are in DeLynn Colvert’s book (“Play Winning Cribbage, 5th edition, published in 2015) or were cited by someone on the boardgamegeekdotcom thread which dates to 2008 and they are virtually identical. Neither source identifies the inventor of the rules. I wonder if they would be in the original edition of Colvert’s book, which was first published in 1980. You can find a 1993 edition on eBay going for $150. There’s a 1985 edition advertised for $113. I can’t find anything on the Internet Archive about it.

It’s probably lost in the mists of time.

Learning How to Play Cribbage Solitaire

I thought I would try to learn how to play cribbage solitaire as described by DeLynn Colvert in his book Play Winning Cribbage, 5th edition published in June 2015.

There are several versions of the variation of the game often called cribbage solitaire, but I think this one teaches the most about the important phases of the game of cribbage.

I don’t know who originally created this variation of cribbage solitaire, but I found the same description on the website boardgamegeekdotcom.

If anyone else knows more about this variation, please let me know!

Addendum: The best I could do today was 111.

Cribbage Solitaire According to DeLynn Colvert or Whoever

I was leafing through Delynn Colvert’s book “Play Winning Cribbage” and found a section on how to play cribbage solitaire. I’ve never considered it, but I tried it tonight just for laughs. It’s easier to understand than his 26 Theory, which I never got. I looked for the rules as Colvert described them and was lucky to find them in the forum on the boardgamegeek website.

Just read Jesse Hickle’s description. If you look at stuff on the web about cribbage solitaire too long, you’ll find dozens of variations. I’d stick with Colvert’s version (or Hickle’s version, whatever). I don’t know where the rules originated.

Colvert says it’s not impossible to beat—but I didn’t win tonight after a few tries. It’s good practice.

Iowa State Fair Cribbage Tournament and More!

I just have a few remarks about the Iowa State Fair Cribbage Tournament which took place today. I don’t have the results and it could be a week before anything is announced about the winner. Here are the rules:

Note the $1 entry fee and you have to bring your own cribbage board, cards, and pen. In the past there have been as many as 200 entrants (that was in 2015). We’ve never entered.

I also wanted to let you know that Sena has started a new cribbage tradition. Whenever she wants to play cribbage, she just puts the deck of cards in our automatic shuffler and makes a racket.

Cribbage Lingo in The Crib Song by Brett Kissel

I modified the YouTube cribbage video “One for his nob short” to be about the same length as Canadian country singer Brett Kissel’s song about cribbage “The Crib Song.” I didn’t change any of the subtitles on the video because they fit the game play in the video.

There is no audio in the short version because you’ll need to play the YouTube video of the song “The Crib Song” along with our cribbage game video (see below). We think they still go together.

I found a Facebook entry on the web that must below to Brett, because it shows images of the computer cribbage game Cribbage Classic (which I’ve reviewed in the past, see my YouTube channel) and he says. “I’m a legend. I will play anyone at crib. Except if you’re over 70 years old. I won’t be able to beat you if you’re 70+.” I wonder why. I don’t have a Facebook account so I can’t ask him about the lyrics of The Crib Song.

Anyway, I found the lyrics for the song. OK, it clips along but I can’t verify some of the cribbage lingo in it. Maybe they’re common parlance for cribbage players in Canada. If any of you know what the following mean let me know:

Romney’s-no idea but it’s evidently something Ebs keeps getting

Loins-if all you get is “loins,” what are those? Sounds like if that’s all you get you might be lucky or good or maybe neither.

Gino-from context it sounds like something you win (“I just won a Gino”)

There’s another that I couldn’t figure out:

Piled-this is connected to “Deuce Neon” in some way (Deuce neon got him piled”); maybe a player?

There are a few I recognized. The kitty is another name for the crib (the two extra cards from the non-dealer and the dealer which are for the dealer). A flush is a hand of cards all the same suit, which can include the cut card. You can’t get a flush in the crib unless the cut card is also of the same suit.

The lyric “I’m looking for that 29” is about that very rare hand of 29 points: the nob jack (jack of the same suit as the cut card), and 3 fives in your hand, the cut card being the other 5. And a score of 19 is slang for zero points because 19 is not a possible score in cribbage.

I think the lines below are about forming sequences during pegging:

“Don’t give away your hand

I’ll rope you right into a run

Peg 8 or 9 or 10

Looking at your face”

You can find lists of cribbage lingo, but admittedly they’ll probably be mostly American usage. The American Cribbage Congress (ACC) list is pretty good and so is the Cribbage King list.